Eva Problems is a writer and game designer. “I make interactive fiction games using Twine,” she says. “It is this really simple-to-use program with a lot of depth in what you can do. I basically use hypertext to make stories. You can do all kinds of things like link between different passages, make text display conditionally if certain parameters have been met—stuff like that. It builds into an HTML document. You can run it on any browser.” Photo: Tyson Call

SLUG Style: Eva Problems

Every month, SLUG Style features a distinct and unique member of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUG Style is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache. SLUG asked Eva Problems what three words she would use to describe her style. “Scaly metal witch,” was her reply, and this made us pretty excited to meet up and see what she is all about.

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Eva Problems is a writer and game designer. “I make interactive fiction games using Twine,” she says. “It is this really simple-to-use program with a lot of depth in what you can do. I basically use hypertext to make stories. You can do all kinds of things like link between different passages, make text display conditionally if certain parameters have been met—stuff like that. It builds into an HTML document. You can run it on any browser.” Photo: Tyson Call

“My dress is political, and that is sort of a mixed blessing,” she says. “Going outside and being seen in public is essentially a political statement when you are a trans woman. I mean, this is the style that I want to wear, so I wear it and you know—assholes out there might have a problem with that—but I haven’t run into any of those yet, and I hope I never do.”

“A twine of mine literally just came out in a book called Videogames for Humans,” says Eva Problems. “It was collected by Merritt Kopas. She just got a bunch of twine authors and a whole bunch of twines and just mixed and matched them. She had interesting people play them and document one play through or however they wanted to react. It is available through Instar Books.”

“I sort of always dug scales, texture- and look-wise,” says Eva Problems. “As a kid, I was always into dinosaurs and dragons and shit. I don’t think there is any reason why you have to stop being into that shit when you grow up. Now that I can dress myself however I damn well please, I’m absolutely going to go out there and just put as many scales on my body as I can with the money that I have.”

“Pretty much all of my friends were into metal, so I kind of got into metal by osmosis,” she says. “I was like, ‘This is good shit—I like listening to this.’ Now that I’ve sort of grown up, grown into myself—I still love metal, because there is nothing really like it”

“The name of the twine in (the book) is Sabbat,” says Eva Problems. “I got the name from a Japanese black metal band. The shirt I’m wearing is some fan art that a fan from the UK made and put on a shirt. I bought the shirt. I was like, ‘Hell yes, I’m wearing a shirt from my own game.’”

Eva Problems takes inspiration from the scales and skin of reptiles, as she loves the texture. Here she wears hot pink leggings with scale pattern.